In many instances, it is desirable to isolate one part of a construct from vibrations originating in another part of the construct. Even in cases where the two parts are essentially separate but for a small number of connection points, the vibrations may still be transferred via these connection points.
In vehicles for example, the driver/passenger cabin needs to be isolated from vibrations generated by the engine. Similarly, some scientific instruments consist of a sensor and a motor used for positioning the sensor. The sensor may need to be isolated from vibrations emanating from the motor so that measurements taken by the sensor are not affected by the vibrations. In multidwelling complexes, the rooms should ideally be acoustically isolated so that noises originating from one room are not heard in adjacent rooms.
Building structures conventionally have living spaces separated by block wall, which generally consist of concrete slabs. A thinner, lighter wall surface such as plasterboard is often used to cover the block wall and is mounted so as to leave a gap between the thinner wall and the block wall. This spacing is maintained by mounting brackets arranged in a network which also serve to attach the thinner wall to the block wall.
A significant problem with the above arrangement is that low frequency vibrations and sounds are easily transmitted from one thin wall, through the mounting brackets and the block wall, through to the thin wall disposed on the other side of the block wall.
One method of reducing noise and vibration transmission between rooms involves coating the mounting brackets with a sound absorbing material such as a rubber material, which serves to dampen the sound.
These sound absorbing mounts are expensive to manufacture because they involve stamping the sound absorbing material onto the actual mount structure. The layer of sound absorbing material coating the mount is quite thin, and although it does reduce the amount of noise transferred between rooms, it is still not entirely effective.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an effective acoustic mount which is of simpler construction than the prior art.